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The Bullwhip Effect, according to the Wall Street journal is a “phenomenon that occurs when companies significantly cut or add inventories. Economists call it a bullwhip because even small increases in demand can cause a big snap in the need for parts and materials further down the supply chain. Nate Smith, GrayMatter’s Director of Strategic Innovation, said he has learned from talking to GrayMatter clients working in the automotive, steel, consumer packaged goods and other industries that supply-chain shortages resulting from the pandemic have a ripple effect. It’s a problem that highlights why it’s critical for companies to reduce the potential for downtime events by deploying solutions like Advanced Industrial Analytics, which uses machine learning to help organizations predict plant floor downtime events and prevent them, and OT cybersecurity solutions that can go on offense as well as defense, like deception technology, aka deceptionGUARD, which identifies and diverts potential cybersecurity attacks at the network perimeter before they can affect operations.

It’s happening in the industrial space, as well, as employees who grew up with the iPhone, Google and now Alexa enter the industrial workforce and thrive on real-time dashboard data and easy-to-interpret HMI enabled by modern-day standards such as ISA 101. The robots’ welding clamps can’t perform consistent welds if they become overheated, so using a Turck flow sensor programmed with temperature set points can monitor the cooling liquid and alert plant floor employees when the liquid reaches an out-of range temperature. Ops Hub 2.0 offers a slew of powerful capabilities including centralized visualizations, mobile device accessibility, data management and historical data analysis for HMI/SCADA and MES. GrayMatter’s session will highlight Ops Hub’s historical trend analysis options, drag-and-drop functionality, connectivity with OPC UA data sources, Microsoft SQL server integration and compliance with ISA 18.2 and ISA 101 for improved operator performance and safety.

Two days later, PPG said it would establish a new business unit, “Traffic Solutions,” to capitalize on its December 2020 acquisition of Ennis-Flint and begin making “pavement-marking products, including paint, thermoplastics and other advanced technologies. Other acquisitions in the works include Tikkurila, a decorative paint manufacturer based in Finland, and VersaFlex, which produces epoxy and polyurethane coatings for “water and waste water infrastructure, flooring, transportation infrastructure, and industrial applications. GrayMatter is acquiring Richmond, Va.-based E-Merge Systems to meet rising demand for Industrial Intelligence solutions that optimize efficiency and quality in manufacturing, food & beverage, water/wastewater, energy and other industries across North America. “Industrial companies in 2021 are prioritizing projects that were once on the back burner to equip facilities with IoT devices, leverage predictive analytics and augment industrial cybersecurity,” said GrayMatter Co-Founder and CEO James Gillespie.

Ford’s goal is to move from “low resolution” to high resolution digital twins, explained Ford Global Chief Engineer Mike Mikula, who gave a keynote address during IndustryWeek’s M&T virtual conference last week. We are moving from what I would consider low-resolution digital twins to higher and higher digital twins,” Mikula said, referring to a digital twin representation of Ford’s new Mustang Mach-E, the company’s new (and first) all-electric crossover vehicle. Mikula said the goal is to use digital twin technology to analyze how customers are using the vehicles features, measure performance and ensure the best possible experience. It’s often eye-opening how different the different functions within a company view digital transformation, whether it be the operations team, lean team, manufacturing team, or the product team.